GUILT and Innocence
by Parsec
Summary: [Crossover with Trauma Center] Phoenix Wright defends a doctor charged with murdering a patient on the operating table.
1. PROLOGUE

**_GUILT and Innocence _**

_By: Mark J. Hadley _

**PROLOGUE**

"Shoot, I lost it again. Angie, what's the progress?"

"Chiral reaction is still positive. Try the ultrasound again."

"Right. It was here, I just _saw_—wait, wait—ah, there it is. Tenacious little devil, it's back into the lung…"

"Be careful…"

"Scalpel… thanks. Aaaand… _there _we go."

"I see it, too. Good work, Docto—…"

"Ah, _blast_ it! Disappeared again!"

"The patient won't be able to take much more of this. We've got to get it out of him now, before it… Doctor Stiles! Vitals are dropping!"

"Hang in there… don't die on me…! Syringe!"

"Right here!"

"Thanks. Filling with the stabilizer… hrm… All right, made the injection. I'll need the ultrasound agai—…"

"Doctor! His vitals aren't stabilizing!"

"What?! But that's impossible!! There isn't nearly enough tissue damage or bleeding to warrant this!"

"H-he's going into cardiac arrest!"

"Defibrillator, now! Hurry!"

"Right here!"

"Clear…!"

"…N-no response! Doctor S-Stiles…"

"Again…!"

"…Doctor… h-he's… he's…"

"No… can't be, that's… that's not possible… how… how could I…"

**_To be continued…_**


	2. DAY 1: Investigation

**DAY 1: Investigation **

The cellphone sitting on the nightstand rang with its usual Steel Samurai ringtone, startling Phoenix Wright out of his sleep. Groggily, he sat up and picked up the phone, squinting at its display to see who it was. _Maya, of course,_ he thought. Pressing the button to pick up the call, he mumbled, "Maya, it's five in the morning…"

"Nevermind that, Nick!" came the voice of Maya Fey on the other side, an urgency in her voice. "We've got a client! I need you down here right away!"

Still not fully alert, Phoenix managed to say, "Whuh…? A client? Who is it?"

"Just wake up and get down here; I'll explain everything when you get here!" Maya replied, followed by the call hanging up. Phoenix set the phone down and stared at it, thinking, _I should be happy for this… I mean, I haven't had a new client in a while, and I could use the money. But couldn't she have waited until at least seven or eight o'clock?_ Reluctantly, he got out of bed and started getting changed; he just wanted some more sleep, but he knew if he didn't get over to the office pronto, Maya would start calling him every ten minutes until he did.

It didn't take long for him to get ready, and after putting on one of his blue suits and taking a short walk to the office he was greeted immediately at the door by Maya, who was dressed in her usual channeling robes. "About time!" Maya scolded. "Another few minutes, and I would've had to take on the case myself!"

"Is the client still here?" Phoenix asked

"Yes," Maya answered, then hesitated. "Well… no, not the client _exactly_, but his partner's here." She ushered him inside, and sure enough, there was someone standing near the window, staring anxiously outside. She had blonde hair and large blue eyes; she wore what looked like a pink nurse's outfit, although it was adorned with a symbol he was unfamiliar with. She looked very troubled, and as he came inside, she turned to face him while Maya introduced, " Phoenix Wright, meet Angela Thompson. But she prefers to be called Angie."

"Mr. Wright!" Angie exclaimed, walking over and bowing her head slightly. "Thank goodness you're here… we desperately need your services! I-it's a matter of life and death! Please!"

Nodding, Phoenix said, "Take it easy, I'll do what I can. What happened?"

Calming down a bit, Angie said, "I'm an assistant to a surgeon, Dr. Derek Stiles. He needs your help, Mr. Wright! He's… he's being tried… f-for murder!"

This news took Phoenix by surprise. "Murder?" he repeated. "Of whom?"

"We were helping a patient," Angie explained, "and… and the surgery didn't go very well. He was… I mean… Dr. Stiles tried his best, but… but the patient… d-died anyway, and so _suddenly_. I don't know why, but they think he did it on purpose!"

"It doesn't make any sense," Maya said, frowning. "I, for one, don't think he did it. I mean, doctors are supposed to _save _lives! How could they think he was trying to _kill_ the patient?"

"I-I don't know," Angie said, lowering her eyes. "I just don't know… th-they didn't tell me the reason. I swear, I know he was doing his best, there wasn't… wasn't anything else he could've done…"

"Are you sure?" Phoenix asked.

Insistently, Angie exclaimed, "_Yes_, I'm sure! I was there! I tried my hardest right alongside him! It… it just doesn't make any sense! It should've have gone this way!" She clasped her hands and pleaded, "Mr. Wright, please… he's innocent, I swear. And he needs your help. _Please._"

_She seems sincere,_ Phoenix thought. _I think she's telling the truth…_ "It's all right," Phoenix replied, holding up a hand. "I'll go speak with him… I'll help out in any way I can."

Angie's eyes brimmed with tears, and she said, "Thank you…" Maya put a comforting arm over her shoulder as Phoenix considered what he knew about the case… which was practically zero, aside from the name of the defendant and the charge. _I should let Angie rest here, _he thought. _I've got to get some more information, and the best place to start is straight at the source…

* * *

_

The stark gray walls of the detention center were never a pleasing sight, and this visit was no exception. Phoenix walked over to the glass partition, taking a seat alone and waiting for the defendant to be brought out. Maya had decided not to come along just yet, staying back at the office to make sure Angie was comfortable; this gave him a chance to speak with the defendant alone.

A guard brought him out, seating him in a chair opposite the partition. The man was young, probably not long out of medical school. His light brown hair was slightly disheveled, perhaps from lack of sleep. A pair of glasses barely obscured his downcast eyes. He was still dressed in a light blue uniform, adorned with an organizational symbol identical to the one Phoenix had seen on Angie's outfit. Even though he was face to face with someone, the man seemed distant, staring off at the ground, his face a mixture of guilt and sorrow. It was a look Phoenix had seen often before, in the very same place.

"Dr. Stiles," Phoenix said, then waited for an answer, not wanting to press him too quickly in this state. After a moment, he added, "Derek…"

Eventually, without making eye contact, Derek said, "I-I'm sorry… If… if you're here to talk, I'm afraid I'm not in much of a talkative mood…"

"It's all right, I understand," Phoenix told him. "I'm here at Angie's request…"

"Angie?" he said, looking up briefly. "Oh… then, you must be…"

Giving a slight nod, Phoenix said, "A defense attorney. My name's Phoenix. Phoenix Wright."

"Mr. Wright," Derek said, "I… I don't think it'll do much good for me to have a lawyer…"

"Why do you say that?" Phoenix asked..

Derek closed his eyes, "Because… that man… he's dead because of me."

"Don't say that," Phoenix insisted. "You're a doctor. You can't save every life; one has to face the fact that not every life is _able _to be—…"

"You're _wrong!_" Derek said, sitting up suddenly and slamming a fist on the table. He stared down at his fist, uncurling the fingers and staring at his palm. "Every… every disease has a cure. I've believed this for a long time. Then I go and do something… something so stupid…"

Phoenix leaned in slightly and said, "Please, tell me what happened. How did the patient die?"

Derek pondered for a moment, then turned his head away, "I can't… I can't go into detail. Suffice to say, this should have been an easy operation. But then… the patient's vitals were dropping and I… I injected him with…" He trailed off.

"With what?" Phoenix demanded.

"I don't know exactly," Derek said. "I was in a hurry. It was supposed to be a stabilizer, but… I must've injected him with something else. I even thought the color was a little off, but I was in too much of a hurry to really notice. Whatever I injected… it caused his vitals to flatline, and… and I lost him…"

Phoenix considered these facts. _If that's true, _he thought, _then the victim was killed due to negligence. This shouldn't be a murder charge… there has to be something else. Do they think he did it on purpose? Why would he do that?_ "Dr. Stiles," he asked, "is there anything else you can tell me? Anything at all?" Instead of answering, Derek simply turned away from the partition, staring at the floor again. _He's not telling me something,_ Phoenix thought. _What could it be?_

Leaning forward, Phoenix said, "I promise I'll get to the bottom of this. Right now, I'm not concerned with whether or not it was a mistake. I just want to know one thing and one thing only." He inquired firmly, "Did you or did you not intend to kill the patient?"

Derek looked back up for a moment, looking into Phoenix's eyes, and answered, "No… no, I did not intend to kill him."

"Then that's all I need to know," Phoenix told him. "I trust my clients, and I will do what I can to prove your innocence."

Derek lowered his head and said, "Thank you. I don't know if I deserve it, but thank you. Let me give you the address of the patient… the place where it happened, where I operated on him."

"What?" Phoenix said, startled. "It wasn't at the hospital?" When Derek shook his head, Phoenix thought, _This is getting strange. What was he doing operating on someone outside the hospital? Was this part of the motive?_ He was afraid to find the answers, because the more information he obtained, it seemed, the more suspicious the situation was becoming…

* * *

The address was pretty far from Phoenix's law office. He was able to stop by and get Maya to come along with him, though Angie stayed behind to take a nap on the office couch. She had apparently been up all night, much like Derek had been, and Phoenix didn't mind if she borrowed the couch for a little extra sleep. Their destination, in the meantime, was at least within walking distance… which was good, considering that Phoenix still didn't have a car. It still took them quite a while to get there.

Thankfully, it wasn't difficult to find. It was in a small residential area, and he knew immediately by the police outside that he had the right place. It was a small but cozy house that resembled the dozen or so other ones in the same block. Most of the people were clustered around a large medical van that was parked outside the house, a van marked with the symbol Phoenix had seen twice before now. He was still completely unfamiliar with what it meant, however.

"Hey, pal!" came an angry, rather gruff shout from nearby. It was a familiar voice, which was matched moments later by a familiar figure. The large detective, wearing his usual trenchcoat, stomped over in their direction and said, "How come I knew I'd find _you_ two here?"

"Detective Gumshoe!" Maya greeted him. "Always good to see you again!"

"Yeah, well…" Gumshoe said, scratching his head. Phoenix had to admit, it was an amazing coincidence that nearly every case he had taken was being investigated by this man, Dick Gumshoe. It was always hard to tell if the detective was pleased to see them or not, especially in this case. He shook his head for a moment and said, "Nevermind all that! Can't you see we're busy around here? We've got our hands full right now…"

"I can see that," Phoenix agreed, starting to walk past him with Maya. "Mind if we take a look around?"

Before the two of them could get past, Gumshoe held out his arm to block them, "Sorry, pal, can't let you do it. There's some sensitive equipment back there, and we're not allowed to let anyone in. But, I can answer some questions if you want."

_I guess that's better than nothing, _Phoenix thought. "All right," he said, "can you tell us anything about the victim?"

"Sure thing," Gumshoe replied. He dug out a file from inside his coat and held it out. There was a photo clipped to the top, showing a picture of a man in his late thirties, with dark red hair and giving a somewhat lopsided smile. "The guy's name was Neville Robertson. He lived at the house over there for the past four years."

While Phoenix examined the photo, Maya asked, "How'd he die?"

"There's a copy of the autopsy report in there if you want it," Gumshoe told them. "To tell the truth, it's kinda hard to tell _how _he died exactly, since it was in the middle of an operation and all. I mean, you could go right out and blame the fact that his chest was cut wide open, but…"

"Uggh!" Maya said, wincing.

"But what?" Phoenix asked, ignoring Maya and prompting Gumshoe to continue.

The detective shrugged and added, "…but there was something that really stood out. You see, they found poison in his blood."

Phoenix gave a start, "What?! Y-you mean… he was poisoned?"

"That's right," Gumshoe nodded, "What's more, it's one they've never seen before. Some kinda custom-made substance, we think. The lab's still analyzing it."

Pulling the autopsy report out of the file, he thumbed through it, reading carefully. It confirmed what Gumshoe had told them; there was indeed an unidentified toxin in the victim's bloodstream. There were other, expected wounds as well, in line with Mr. Robertson being in the middle of an operation. His chest was still cut open at the time the police recovered the body, as the doctor had not sealed him back up. Curiously, he noticed that there weren't any details about the nature of the operation, only that it was a lobectomy, which meant they were operating around the lungs.

Something else caught his eye on the report. The page count in the corner didn't match the number of pages he was holding; he double-checked it, and there were definitely some pages missing. "What's going on?" Phoenix asked the detective. "This report's not complete."

Gumshoe looked away and said, "Yeah, uhhh, about that…" He looked somewhat uncomfortable, and then explained, "Those pages were, uhh… classified."

"What? Why?" Maya demanded.

"Look, if I knew that, then it wouldn't be classified, pal!" Gumshoe huffed. "_I_ sure didn't do it. There were some doctors that arrived and helped in the autopsy, and said this information had to be classified 'cause of sensitive material. Before you say anything," he added, holding up his hand, "they agreed to declassify it if it turns out to be important to the trial."

_Great, but how do we know what that is if we don't know what's on the pages? _Phoenix thought. _I have a hunch that there's some vital info there that someone's trying to cover up. Maybe it proves Dr. Stiles' innocence… or maybe it's more incriminating evidence. Either way, we've got to know the truth, which means we've got to find a link to whatever was missing._ Acting on another hunch, he asked, "Where were the doctors from?"

"Don't know," Gumshoe said, "but they had official government orders. Real top secret stuff. I tried to sneak a peek at the pages, but they started going on about federal offenses and stuff. They wanted us to keep the public outta the van for the same reason. I don't like it; this whole mess is beginning to feel bigger than it looks."

"I know what you mean," Phoenix agreed, and then sighed, "Thanks for trying anyway, detective." Gumshoe nodded and took back the rest of the file before starting to head back to the van. He barked some orders at a few of the officers around, while Phoenix looked down at the autopsy report again. _Not much to go on,_ he thought. _I wish we could have seen the actual crime scene. Maybe they'll let us do it tomorrow, once things have quieted down. Whatever happened here, though, we've got to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, I've got to find out whatever else I can…

* * *

_

The two of them returned to the law office, taking their time since they knew it would be a while before they could access the crime scene. Angie was still where they left her back, sleeping on the couch. Phoenix gently shook her shoulder, saying, "Ms. Thompson…"

The nurse stirred, and blinked a few times before saying, "Oh! M-Mr. Wright… you're back." She sat up slowly and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"In a manner of speaking," Phoenix replied. "We've got the autopsy report on the victim, but it's incomplete. Angie… we need you to be truthful to us. Was there anything unusual about the operation?"

"I…" Angie said, pausing a bit before continuing, "…I d-don't… no, nothing too unusual. For us, I mean. Besides that it went so poorly…"

"But that doesn't explain the lost pages," Maya insisted. "What happened to them? What was the big secret?"

"Look, I c-can't say much, all right?" Angie told them, looking a bit agitated. "I want to, I really do… b-but the reason we were there, I… I can't tell you. I'm not supposed to…"

Phoenix blinked, "You were instructed by someone not to reveal the details of the operation? Why?"

"I-It's complicated…" Angie said. "I promise, I'll tell you everything if they declassify it, but… but it's important that I don't until then. You'll have to trust me."

Sighing, Phoenix said, "All right… but can you at least tell me anything about the victim? His name was Neville Robertson, according to the report. I can't believe they'd file a murder charge against a random patient, because there'd be no motive. That means there has to be some sort of connection between them." He waved the file and asked, "Did they know each other? Was he a regular patient of Dr. Stiles'?"

"No…" Angie answered, lowering her eyes. "No, h-he wasn't a patient… he was… a c-colleague."

"What?!" Maya exclaimed. "A _colleague?!_"

Phoenix began getting that creeping sensation in the back of his mind again. He spoke his thoughts aloud, "So he _did _know the victim. They were both doctors, I take it?" When Angie nodded, he continued, "And they worked together… no _wonder_ the police think this was murder. He shows up at a colleague's house, operates on him on-site, and the patient dies under unusual circumstances…"

"Angie," Maya said carefully, "are you _sure _Dr. Stiles didn't mean to kill the man?"

"Y-yes! I mean, I… I d-don't know," Angie stammered. "Derek… h-he would never… he only w-wanted to s-save…" She looked away again, and said, "I trust him. M-maybe it was my fault, s-since I was assisting him… but n-no, Derek's incapable of it! I t-trust him, I really do!"

Phoenix glanced at Maya, who looked back at him with a shrug. He closed his eyes and said, "We'll do whatever we can, Ms. Thompson. For right now, I think you should get home and get some more rest if you can. We'll need to be up bright and early for the trial."

Angie nodded, getting up from the couch, "Thank you so much. I promise, if I learn anything new or I get permission to tell you anything else, I will do so in a heartbeat." She moved over to the door and added, "Besides… I just know we'll be all right. Derek and I have been in some hopeless situations before, but we _always_ pull through."

"This time will be the same, I promise," Phoenix told her, smiling reassuringly. "Goodnight, Ms. Thompson." Angie managed a smile back at the two of them, then left the office. As he watched her leave, Phoenix pondered the entire case as he knew it so far. _Not much information, _he thought. _If only things weren't so secretive. I wonder what's being hidden… I have a feeling that'll be the main focus of my approach tomorrow morning: trying to convince people that the rest of the autopsy info be declassified, as well as more information about the victim. One way or another, the truth needs to be known…_

**_To be continued… _**


End file.
